JP 2007-74800A, published by the Japan Paten Office in 2007, proposes a charging control device of an automated guided vehicle having a nickel-hydrogen battery or a lithium-ion battery that can be used in a partial charge/discharge mode as a battery, and a charging control part that starts charging when a remaining amount of the battery reaches a charging start amount, and stops charging when the remaining amount reaches a charging stop amount.
In an assembly production line, for example, plural automated guided vehicles that travel along a travel route of a determined orbiting track are generally employed. Each vehicle loads assembly components in a picking station, transport them to an assembly station, and unloads them in the assembly station, and then returns to the picking station again. Plural automated guided vehicles are operated in series so as to circulate between the picking station and the assembly station to sequentially supply the assembly components necessary in the assembly station. In plural automated guided vehicles operated in series in this manner, it is necessary to charge the battery using an automatic charger of the charging station whenever the remaining amount of the mounted battery decreases to a predetermined charge start amount, as described in the prior art. For this reason, the automatic charger of the charging station is configured to continuously receive electric power and periodically perform the charging operation for each automated guided vehicle to be charged. As a result, in order to charge the automated guided vehicles, it is necessary to ceaselessly supply electric power to the automatic charger of the charging station to maintain a certain amount of electric power. Accordingly, it is difficult to suppress power consumption at a particular predetermined time.